Late last season I chipped the very tip of my rudder when my HT flipped on the ground during a storm. I was looking for some advice on repairing the rudder.
My initial idea was to mold the tip of the unchipped rudder with modeling clay and then place the mold over the chipped section, then inject epoxy with some form of filler into the cavity of the mold and finally sand to a smooth finish. I am worried that this repair will simply fall off at some point, leaving the original chip.
Any and all help is welcome.
Looks like a simple epoxy filler job. Use some tape...(wide masking can work but it will stick...could put some wax paper between it and the filler) to support a big blob of filled epoxy. I'd do it in two steps...first with high density filler or even milled glass fiber as the filler. This is placed in the more structural sections than need to be strong. Make it thick enough so it is like peanut butter...doesn't flow/pool on the tape. When set, file/sand back to the rough outline of the board's profile. Then re-mix another batch with only lightweight filler...use this to fill and undulations/air holes, and final profile. It will sand much nicer when set.
Paint if you're fussy 😉
What Mike said. In addition I'd carefully poke small wood sticks dipped in epoxy in the exposed foam to give the blob of epoxy more support. Two or three sticks crossing with each other. * sticks would be perfect.
I'd definitely put some glass fiber in the blob as filler. it will make the finished product less brittle.
If you really want to repair it the
right way
you have to build a taper in the epoxy shell next to the chip, epoxy a rough foam replacement in place (* sticks again!) and then rebuild the shell with glass fiber and epoxy, probably three layers, one top to bottom and up top the other side, one back to front and back the other side and then one diagonal. Let it cure, sand, and then apply finish to match the existing one (what is is? gelcoat? paint?). But frankly, I think it is too involved for the size of the chip. But it will be lighter <img src="<>/smile.gif" alt="smile" title="smile" height="15" width="15" />
when I repaired my H17 centerboard hooks many many moons ago... I actually fashioned a
mold
out of tin foil that I could form into the rough shape of the hook. After it set, I pulled off the tin foil and did the shaping with an angle grinder and sand paper.
Worked pretty damn well.